toning or rusting?

sarafaye · May 10, 2004 2:18PM

I got this quarter back in change the other day, and I'm wondering if you guys think its color is from toning, rusting, or just plain dirt. I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I'm still new at this, and I respect your opinions! Thanks!

FC57Coins · May 10, 2004 2:22PM

Hi Sara - welcome to the boards

Looks like you got yourself a toned quarter - been in circulation so it's nothing to write home about - but still cool

sarafaye · May 10, 2004 2:32PM

Thanks for the prompt response, FC57!
Any ideas on what may have caused it? Does it look natural to you?

jhuberdude · May 10, 2004 2:33PM

Gottcha!
I spent that quarter after finding it at a beach with my metal detector!
Most of the nickel based coins I find on a beach look this color. I was putting them in a tumbler with small rocks and amonia and salt to clean them before spending, but now I just spend them because I know they must make people wonder.
Welcome to the boards, and again...Gottcha!
John

FC57Coins · May 10, 2004 2:35PM

Looks like the coin may have been exposed for a long time - maybe forgotten out in the rain or some such thing and then picked up again. Kinda hard to tell - maybe someone was experimenting with it to see if they could tone it artificially - who knows!

windwhispersintrees · May 10, 2004 2:38PM

John is correct. That's typically how a quarter looks after being lost outside for a year or two, and maybe only partially cleaned off after being found. Clad and nickels get that awful red color....which is one reason why metal detector users much prefer finding silver & gold coins!

Cladiator · May 10, 2004 4:33PM

Many modern quarters I find while metal detecting have that look to them. I'd say it was definitely outside for a long time...possibly underground for a while.

Steve27 · May 10, 2004 8:52PM

Just for the record, toning is rust.

dorkkarl · May 10, 2004 9:11PM

<< <i>Just for the record, toning is rust. >>

baloney. "rust" implies corrosion. such a simpleton view of toning looks foolish.

however, the quarter depicted by sarafaye looks like it is indeed corroded.

K S

BillJones · May 10, 2004 11:30PM

In a sense corrosion is toning that has gone too far. Once the chemical reaction works its way below the surface of the coin, it has destroyed the original mint surface and mint bloom, and most collectors view what remains as damaged metal.

When copper nickel coins corrode they can take on this brown color, and they can also turn black. If you see a black nickel or copper-nickel Indian or Flying Eagle cent, you are looking at a corroded coin. It’s just as bad as green is for a copper piece, and the value of the coin is considerably reduced.

nankraut · May 10, 2004 11:59PM

Well...now I'm confused. I thought that toning was the beginning of the alteration of the coin's original surface---ie:corrosion

Kriek · May 11, 2004 3:25AM

Not exactly. For example the process that causes silver coins to tone or tarnish is altogether different from the one that causes rust. What's more, the results are very different, too. For example when moisture reacts with most metals, there is an all-out destructive attack of the metal. However, silver is relatively inactive and does not react with oxygen in the air, even at high temperatures. It reacts with certain chemical compounds, notably those containing sulfur, if a catalyst is present - moisture, for example. But even then, the reaction stops short of an all-out destructive attack.

In the case of silver coins, the sulfur causes a coating to form on the surface of the metal - but far from being destructive, this coating is actually protective. If it develops quickly and tends to be unsightly, we call it tarnish; if it happens more slowly and attractively, we call it toning. This is a completely natural process that occurs as atoms at the coin's surface interact with their environment, forming new compounds. The resulting veil refracts light according to its variable thickness, producing one or more colors within the visible light spectrum. Unlike most metals, which lose metal when it rusts, silver is not eaten away - that is to say, corroded - by this limited chemical reaction. When the metal rusts, it spalls and loses metal; when silver tones or tarnishes, there is no loss of metal.

certifiedsilverdollar · May 11, 2004 3:41AM

yep, exactly, that is why you can shower with your silver necklace for years before having to clean it. And when you use a proper cleaner/polisher, it looks as good as new, with no pits or anything............unless you bought it at the local 5 & Dime of course.

cladking · May 11, 2004 5:13AM

Much of the difference here is mere semantics. Certainly when speaking of iron or zinc rusting
it is in reference to a specific chemical reaction caused by oxidation and this would not normally
occur with a silver coin. But still the term rust can be applied to deeply tarnished silver since the
process is within the defining characteristics of the term. But yes, chemically speaking it is not
real rust.

toning or rusting?

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